


Ten Thousand Hypocrites

by KomaedaClear



Category: Paranatural (Webcomic)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-05-14
Packaged: 2018-03-25 20:14:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3823300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KomaedaClear/pseuds/KomaedaClear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been four years since a war that left most of Earth in ash. Maxwell Puckett now has to wander alone in this barren landscape, looking for a way out of this mess.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ash

**Author's Note:**

> oops here i go  
> this is going to be a loooong fanfiction so buckle your seatbelts kids its time for a ride

Ash. As far as the eye can see. All across what used to be prairie and maybe a town. The sky was an eternal gray, forever raining down ash. It was suffocating. There was no more life other than what could either avoid the ash or not have to breathe. It has been this way for four years now, and has gotten worse. The ash just keeps falling for forever, and has never stopped. It has created a gray landscape, with no colour to it.

Max Puckett stood there, looking around him, trying to spot anything to signify life. He wore a black hood covered in ash and a scarf around his mouth and large goggles to block out the ash. In his backpack he had a flashlight, a blanket, a box of matches, and a can of peas. He had sweatpants on underneath snow pants to keep him warm. On his hands were two pairs of gloves, and in one hand he held a large metal bat. He wore large, black combat boots, and underneath those, two pairs of wool socks.

All of this couldn’t keep out the cold chill in the air, and to keep his blood circulating, he started walking again. His boots left footprints in the undisturbed ash. He breathed heavily, trying to keep warm. His guard was up. There were too many close calls with groups of bandits wanting to take advantage of a young kid. He lost too many supplies to them.

His mind began to wander to when everything started.

He was 12 and in middle school. He made friends and joined the activity club where they did classes on self defense and kickboxing. It was fun, and he and his friend Isaac hung out a lot, along with Cody. Then, the wars started.

He couldn’t remember much except that it got so bad that while he was in school they had a huge lockdown which concluded with the whole school in the gym and being guarded by military men. He, Isabel, Ed and Isaac ran off for some stupid reason, and the teacher Richard Spender followed them. Some military men from a different side of the war found them and shot Richard while the group escaped.

Isabel was captured by the men on the opposing side, and Ed ran off to find her. Max never knew what happened to either of them. He and Isaac stayed together for a good couple of days while trying to find out what the hell happened, and then there was a huge flash. He’s still not sure what had happened, but his 12-year-old self had taken quite a beating back then. Currently, Max thinks that’s about when the ash started falling, but he’s not yet sure. He did see many cities and towns get destroyed while trying to find answers, including Mayview, and he decided to start walking north. Isaac disappeared while Max was searching for supplies, so he was alone for four years.

He shook his head, trying to stop his mind from wandering anymore. He had let his guard down. Thankfully, nothing had come up to attack him or anything, but he was still worried. Doing a quick look around, he stood defensively. Nothing. He sighed and continued on.

He assumed he was still heading north. A couple of times he managed to get a ride with dudes or ladies on motorcycles or still-running vehicles, and he had advanced past the Canadian border. He hasn’t seen a car for two or three years, and he missed that luxury. He didn’t know why he was heading north where it was supposedly worse, but turning back now would mean the same four years again, and he didn’t want to relive any of that.

He squinted as he looked in the distance. He thought he could see buildings. Max wanted to run, but he knew he had to save his strength and speed for whoever was waiting for him there. His bat readied, he advanced quickly but stealthily. Years of being ambushed or being ready too late have taught him to be very careful.

Coming up to somewhat intact buildings, he crouched behind the first one and listened. Nothing. He leaned forward to sneak a peek, and saw what looked to be a small town. Most of the buildings were rubble and ash, but some were like the one he was hiding behind. He crept out and stalked towards the front door. Looking around him constantly, he slowly made his way inside, stepping over a rotten door.

Inside was very dark, but he didn’t risk being caught with his flashlight. He listened, and only heard the floor beneath him creak. Thankfully, inside wasn’t as ashen as outside, and he briefly enjoyed the nice change of scenery before peeking into the kitchen to his right. The drawers were all taken out and there was no fridge. The cupboard doors were laying on the floor, and the cupboards themselves were in rubble. The living room was directly to his left, and it was cleared out. All that was left was upstairs now.

Slowly, he made his way up the creaking stairs, climbing on all fours in order to distribute his weight evenly. At the top he had to make a sharp turn in order to face the hallway with five rooms: two to the left, two to his right, and one at the very end.

Again, he peeked. Nothing in any rooms. One was a bathroom, and in the toilet was possibly feces. He didn’t stick around to smell it out. At the end, he found it was actually an unbroken door to the balcony instead of a room. He crouched there, admiring the view. There were three other houses. One of them was only one story, and the other seemed to be a store of some sort. He wanted to save that one for last because he assumed it was already looted many times before.

He watched for movement, but in this small of a town with very few buildings, there didn’t seem to be anything alive nearby. Of course, due to prior experience, any of the houses in rubble could be hiding a group of bandits ready to ambush, so Max calculated his moves carefully. If he stayed to the outskirts, he could get to the other house, and could hide behind the large amounts of rubble and the piles of ash to get to the store. Maybe then he could possibly find a place to stay the night and actually be able to sleep, since he hasn’t been able to for years now. Plus, he was hungry, and wanted a bite of his peas before going to sleep. He hoped to every god and goddess in existence that he found more food, though highly unlikely.

He made his way out the front door and began to creep silently to the next house. He remembered one of the first houses he looted alone, and shivered at the memory of over a hundred corpses, at least 15 in every room. He had nightmares for weeks, and even now gets flashbacks to back then. It was a terrifying experience for his young self.

This house had furniture, although burnt. Max managed to find an entire set of kitchen knives, much to his luck, and a can opener. He threw the stuff in his bag and began to make his way to the store.

It looked like a Wal-Mart, and much of the stuff had been taken or burned, but he made his way through the aisles nonetheless. He reached the canned food aisle and looked on every shelf, and begged internally for food, but found nothing. His heart sank, and he kept searching for anything of use.

He found a torn up blanket that was small and had stuffing falling out of. It was either that or dust. He didn’t put it in his bag, but put the stuffing in his hoodie pockets. He couldn’t put in much because of lack of pocket space, but lo and behold, he found a large winter coat with, conveniently, many pockets. He rejoiced in this, and stuffed it with stuffing after he put it on. He was much warmer now, and he was tempted to whistle when he heard a sound at the front of the store. He froze in place.

There were loud footsteps, walking slowly along the aisles. Max quickly dropped into a crouch, and began to slowly creep down the side of the store. Whenever he heard sounds, he would stop and wait, then continue on when he felt that the person wasn’t any closer to him.

Just when he thought he could see the exit, he stopped in front of tall rain boots facing towards him. His heart began racing as he froze in place. He looked up and into a gas mask and the barrel of a gun.


	2. Safe and Sound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who is the stranger? Is Max safe?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaassssss  
> Every is going to be named after an electric president song from now on btw ;U

Max sat there for what felt like an eternity. Fear-stricken and hungry, this was not as good a day as he thought it would be. How did he not notice this person? Four years and now he was going to die.

The gun lifted his hood off his head and exposed his forehead. Then the stranger knelt down. Max closed his eyes as the stranger pulled his scarf down. The ash in the store began to tickle his nose and it became hard to breathe. He coughed into his arm and the stranger took a step back.

“Max?” a muffled voice spoke. The stranger lifted up their own hood and gas mask, exposing a feminine face hugged by blonde curls and a pink woolly scarf that was originally hidden behind her coat and mask. She smiled widely at him.

“W-who are you?” Max asked in confusion. “And how do you know my name?”

The girl narrowed her eyes, but her face quickly changed to happiness. “I guessed your name! I thought no one else was around at all.” She was quick to change the subject. She held out a gloved hand to help him up. “My name is Suzy. Wow, its been a long time since I last talked to anyone!”

Max took it and stood up. “Y-yeah.” He struggled to find words. He spent so long without talking, so he wasn’t sure how to react.

Suzy slapped his back and pulled her scarf up over her mouth. “Damn thing is always falling down. Anyways, I have a place near here if you need to rest. You look like a man made out of ash.”

It was true. Max was covered in the fallen ash. He believed her that she had a place nearby because there wasn’t much ash on her coat. “How do I know I can trust you? And how come you trust me?”

“Oh, I have lots of supplies!” she exclaimed. Pulling the gas mask over her head, she gestured to the door. “Come with me. The air is pretty fresh compared to out here.” She turned swiftly and walked with a brisk step. Max hurried to follow her despite knowing better.

His bat was becoming heavy on his back as he stood in the ash, looking down at Suzy as she very carefully lifted up a wooden beam that was rotten and clearly quite heavy, although she was able to lift it with ease. His stomach growled with anticipation for the food that Suzy had stored, but he readied himself for disappointment because she probably only had beans.

The wooden door was lifted, and Max could see steel on the inside of the door. Again, it looked really heavy, yet somehow stainless. Did Suzy spend her time cleaning it? Where did she get this from? Questions whirled around in Max’s brain as he began his descent down a metal ladder and into pitch black darkness. As his feet touched the ground, Suzy began climbing down above him, softly closing the hatch. A loud bang sounded from above as the wooden beam fell onto the hatch, sealing them inside. Suzy must be very strong after having to open a steel door held down by a wooden beam for so long.

The sound of jingling echoed around Max as Suzy grabbed something from the wall. A match was lit, and the lantern emitted a large glow around the room. Suzy dropped to the ground and began lighting two torches on the walls. One right by the ladder, and one on the opposite wall.

The place was big for an underground shelter. The dirt around them was held back by metal, which made up the walls. The ground was all dirt, but somehow cleaner than above. The air was much better than the cold of above, and they were kept ventilated by holes above them which were covered by wood. A small breeze met Max’s face as he stood directly under one.

There was a bunch of mattresses piled on top of eachother, so many that they could have covered the entire floor, and there was a wool blanket on top with a pillow that looked like something you’d find on the guest bed of your grandparents’ house. There were several shelves above the bed, filled with cans of food and can openers. Right beside the bed were gloves, hoodies, scarves, and pants. There were also some weapons in one corner which looked like they haven’t been used in years.

“This was supposed to be a bunker for one of the residents here, but luckily for us, they never used it.” Suzy put the lantern down by the bed. “Make yourself at home.”

He sat down on the bed and looked up at the cans of food. He picked one up and saw the saviour of his stomach: Chef Boyardee. He grabbed a can opener and, without thinking, opened the can and began to eat with the opener.

Suzy also grabbed a can of Chef Boyardee and ate as well. She didn’t seem to mind sharing her food. “I also have granola bars too, if you’re hungry later.”

“Where did you get all this food?” he asked between mouthfuls. Sauce began to drip down from the corners of his mouth.

Suzy looked up in thought. “Well, I do a lot of runs into the city, and occasionally check the store- “

“The city?” Max looked up in surprise.

Suzy nodded. “There’s loads of untouched goos there. Everyone was evacuated from that area and surrounding, and no one bothers to look because they assume that it was searched thoroughly already. However, that isn’t the case.” She waved her finger at him. “There’s so much stuff even I haven’t looked at, and i’ve been here at least a year now. Although, there is a group that has claimed territory there. They don’t do much, just sit around on their asses all day eating pudding.”

“Pudding?” Max was astonished. All this time, he was aimlessly walking, and only now he hears about a city filled with pudding.

Suzy nodded with a smile. “Oh yeah, i’ve seen some of them sitting on rooftops, sharing a big case of chocolate pudding. It’s so rare though. Anyways, I already went to the city yesterday. i always go every week. Next week, you can come with me. I can teach you how to hide under the rubble so you don’t get caught by them.”

Max nodded eagerly. He hasn’t been this excited for years. He could probably find most secluded place there and stay for a year or two, then make his way to another city. His luck was coming around, and boy, he was ecstatic.

Suzy looked up at one of the holes. “I should probably shut off the torches soon. Night is coming. I like to make night runs here and there, so i’ll trust you to watch everything.” She turned to look directly at him, and said in all seriousness, “And do not eat my alphagetti.” She then gathered up her supplies, put on her gas mask, and walked up the ladder.

Max rested his head on the pillow. She could just him when she gets back. He closed his eyes and almost immediately fell asleep.


End file.
